PJB-2022-247
AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT ESCULANTA CRANTZ) CULTIVAR FOR CASSAVA MOSAIC DISEASE
Jayakumar Mohanraj
Abstract
Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) is the major constraint for Cassava production worldwide. In India CMD is caused by either single or mixed infections of whitefly transmitted begomoviruses namely Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) that reduce crop yield from 25 to 88% depending upon the cultivar. There is no specific control method available for this disease, although the control of whitefly vector through pesticides may be partially effective. The availability of resistance sources for CMD in germplasm is rather limited. Application of transgenic technology is one of the viable option to sustain this crop. The main objective of this study was to engineer CMD resistance in Indian cassava cultivars using RNAi technology. A multi target hairpin RNAi (hpRNAi) construct was developed to target multiple ORFs of ICMV and SLCMV for effective control of CMD. Two of the elite Indian cassava cultivars H226 and MVD1 were transformed with the hpRNAi construct through Agrobacterium mediated method. Totally 25 independent transgenic cassava lines were developed and evaluated for stability of transgene integration through molecular analysis. In the virus challenging study, four of the transgenic cassava lines showed high level of resistance to CMD. The developed CMD resistant transgenic cassava lines holds great potential for improving root yield and will support cassava farmers and sago/starch industries. Critical evaluation of CMD resistance over several crop cycles under open field conditions is required for large scale adoption of these transgenic events.
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